Oscar Wilde, Victorian Period, The Importance of Being Earnest

OSCAR WILDE AND

HIS PERIOD, THE

IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST

Born in Dublin in1854

He became a disciple of Walter Peter, the theorist of aestheticism.

He became a fashionable dandy.

BRIEFLY, OSCAR WILDE

He was one of the most successful playwrights of late Victorian London and one of the greatest celebrities of his days.

He suffered a dramatic downfall and was imprisoned after been convicted of “gross indecency” for homosexual acts.

He died in Paris in 1900.

OSCAR WILDE’S AESTHETICSM

Oscar Wilde adopted the aesthetical ideal: he affirmed “my life is like a work of art”.

His aestheticism clashed with the didacticism of Victorian novels.

OSCAR WILDE’S AESTHETICSM

Oscar Wilde adopted the aesthetical ideal: he affirmed ‘my life is like a work of art’.His AESTHETICISM clashed with the didacticism of Victorian novels.

The artist  

Art

Virtue and vice

the creator of beautiful things

used only to celebrate beauty and the sensorial pleasures

employed by the artist as raw material in his art:‘No artist has ethical sympathies. An ethical sympathy in an artist is an unpardonable mannerism of style’

‘The Preface’ to The Picture of Dorian Gray

VICTORIAN PERIOD

Victorian period is known as reign of Queen Victoria.

Exemplifies Victorian qualities: earnestness, moral responsibility, domestic propriety.

The Victorian Period was an age of transition.

Several changes: from politics until society.

VICTORIAN PERIODIn the Victorian Age, which

encompassed the last quarter of the nineteenth century, England was at its climax of power. The British Empire extended all over the world, coining the phrase, "The sun never sets in the British Empire."

The era saw the flourishing of the English aristocracy, but the rise of the elite created a huge wealth disparity between the very rich and the very poor.

Wilde, a respected member of the upper-class, concentrated his satirical efforts only on the aristocracy.

VICTORIAN PERIODCensorship of writers: no

mention of ‘sex, birth or death’Materialism, secularism,

vulgarity, and sheer waste that accompanied Victorian progress led some writers to wonder if their culture was really advancing by any measure.

Victorian writing reflects the dangers and benefits to rapid industrialization, while encouraging readers to examine closely their own understanding of the era’s progress.

To know more about Victorian period…

Oscar Wilde

Charles Dickens

Emily Brönte

KEY POINT TO REMEMBER

England grew in size, power, and wealth in this era

Queen Victoria was the key to this era’s popularity

The population is characterized by “two nations”

The only constant was changeWriters became politicalThis is the era of the novelThemes of religion, fear & science,

industrialism, genderNew focus on children of the wealthy

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST: A TRIVIAL COMEDY FOR SERIOUS PEOPLE

OSCAR WILDE

Everbody Loves Ernest

But Nobody is quite

sureWho he really is..!

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST

The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde’s last and most famous play.

It’s a satire of the Victorian era.

The Importance of Being Earnest is funny all the time.

Genre of the play:• Social Comedy• Comedy of Manners• Satire• Intellectual Farce

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST:

Jack has invented an alter ego, a younger brother called Ernest who lives in the City.

Humour comes from the characters’ false identities.

Witty dialogues and satire of Victorian hypocrisy.

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST

Set in England during the late Victorian era.

The protagonists: two young aristocratic men, Ernest Worthing, and Algernon Moncrieff.

Ernest, actually called Jack, was adopted at an early age by a Mr Thomas Cardew.

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST

They belong to aristocratic society.

They are typical Victorian snobs.

They are arrogant, formal and concerned with money.

They are interested only in a materialistic world

Lady Bracknell embodies the stereotype of the Victorian English aristocrat woman

This comedy was a mirror of the fashionable and corrupted world of the Victorian fashionable audiences

Symbols are the double life, food, fiction and writing .

The title of the play is a pun.

To be ‘EARNEST’ means to be serious, and the main character(John/Jack) uses the name ‘EARNEST’ when he is in city.

YOU CAN NEVER BE OVERDRESSED

OR OVEREDUCATED

-OSCAR WILDE

-THE END-

MUSTAFA ÖNDER

MEHMET ALİ

BEKTAŞLI